Hamilton Alexander one of America’s founding fathers was born on 11th January, 1757 in Charlestown on the island of Nevis, British West Indies. Thereafter, he migrated to the United States in 1772 where he received educational training in the schools of Elizabethtown, N.J and King’s College. He later on joined the Continental Army in New York in 1776 where he served as a captain of artillery until 1st March 1777 when he was appointed aide-de-camp to General Washington where he served until 16th February 1781 in that capacity.
Hamilton’s life was surrounded by extraordinary events that shaped his life and character from his humble background in St. Croix to the years he had a major power position as the nation’s Treasury Secretary. Just like any other individual involved in politics, Alexander had enemies, supporters and even individuals who could not illustrate or comprehend what kind of an American he was. He is famous to many as a genius and a great American economist. However, others view him as a person who forced the dominion of big money and big government.
During the commemoration of independence on 4th July 1789 at the then Nation’s capital in New York City, Hamilton was in charge of the main oration. Though the subject of his speech was a eulogy for the late American hero General Nathanael Greene, he based his speech on a meditation of character and opportunity. His speech analysis was better suited for himself since he was the only person who that came from a real humble background among all the Founder Fathers.
In his early years and at a very young age, Hamilton showed signs of great writing abilities. For instance, one of his letters ended up published on the Gazette. This saw him earn the opportunity of sponsorship to migrate to the mainland by friends and employers and begun his education. It is at the King’s college where he began writing about politics and the then ongoing revolution. Thereafter, Hamilton was involved in the revolution where his relationship with the great commander and the future president George Washington begun. This was the first and last time of his life ever interacting with a man greater than him. After the war, Hamilton was put in charge of the largest department of the new government the Treasury. He worked hard in the treasury and was considered to be the best amongst his fellow appointees to the government. In his position as the first secretary of the treasury, Hamilton took a nation that was stalled in huge debts and gave the nation one of the world’s first modern financial systems. He argued that the assumption of the debts of the states by the government would earn the United States more creditworthiness. As such, he made one of his best arguments based on the fact that the individual states were inflating their way out of debt, and it was such actions that brought disgrace to all the U.S citizens.
However, his enormous achievements were tainted by a relationship he had with Maria Reynolds who was a married woman. This was the first political scandal of the newly formed nation and haunted his reputation until his death. He publicly admitted of his affair with Maria Reynolds in his publication on observations on certain documents. Throughout his life, Hamilton’s professional skills in writing were of no doubt ranging from his earliest contributions to the main land on the publication “The Farmer Refuted” to the “Federalist papers” in which he expressed his support for a new constitution. Washington applied Alexander’s written abilities in many occasions during the years that they worked together, and one of the most significant moments was during his farewell address.
Works Cited
McDonald, Forrest. Alexander Hamilton Biography. New York: W.W. Norton Company, 1982
Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton. New York: Penguin, 2004. Print.
http://www.biography.com/people/alexander-hamilton-9326481
